Camp for adults with brain injuries to be held Saturday

By Kristen Shanahan&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Sat 1:01 AM, Mar 29, 2014&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Sat 1:08 AM, Mar 29, 2014

DENISON, TX -- March is Brain Injury Awareness month and Saturday a camp will be held in Denison for adults suffering from traumatic brain injuries. Kristen Shanahan spoke with one of the campers and his mother who say what they take away from this camp helps them through a lifetime of struggles.

"They were headed to play golf and a lady was going the wrong way down 75 and she hit them head on," Barbara Booth, Josh's mother, said.

A 1995 crash changed 34-year-old Josh Jarvis's life forever. Josh's father, brother, and friend escaped from a wrecked van with minor injuries, but that was not the case for Josh.

"He was thrown from the van and spent three months in a coma," Booth said. "We thought it would be just a quick fix that it was something like on TV where you come out of a coma where life goes on as normal, but that's not the case with a traumatic brain injury."

Nearly 20 years later Josh and his mother Barbara Booth are still dealing with the long-term side effects from the traumatic brain injury Josh suffered in the accident.

"He's in a wheelchair, his cognitive skills are limited and his speech has been somewhat limited," Booth said.

Booth says Josh being here today is nothing short of a miracle, but says it has not been an easy road and it is their support group that gets them through each day.

"If you don't have a support group I don't know how you can manage to get through this. Whether your support group is your family, whether it's other caregivers, but you definitely have to have God in there too," Booth said.

Booth says part of their support group includes friends they have met at the Friends of Hope camp, which will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Southside Baptist Church in Denison.

"They eat, they play games, they spend a lot of time fellow shipping. There's time for the caregivers to get together and kind of compare stories and help each other out," Booth said.

The Pilot Club of Grayson County is sponsoring the Friends of Hope camp for more about the event and the organization email pilotclubofgraysoncounty@gmail.com.

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